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Mushroom and biogas production in a circular economy

Objective

The problems: Biogas is important for the European renewable energy transition as it turns waste streams such as manure and sewage into biogas, and provides CO2-neutral energy. But the efficiency is low because the methane producing bacteria in the biogas digester have trouble accessing the energy locked in fibrous materials such as cellulose and lignin. This fraction passes through the biogas plant unused and is incinerated or spread on agricultural land. At the same time, mushroom producers must buy substrate to grow mushrooms and pay to discard it after use.

The solution: The AST technology creates a resource cycle between biogas production and mushroom production, reducing costs of mushroom production by up to 50% and utilizing also the fibrous fraction in biogas plants. The innovation is a technology where the fibrous fraction from biogas is used for growing mushrooms, and then returned to the biogas plant, offering improved economy as well as significant environmental benefits to both the mushroom and biogas industry.

The project: The AST concept has already been proven in pilot scale, and the next step is a full scale demonstration plant. In this project two AST plants are scaled up and integrated with mushroom production facilities and a biogas plant, respectively. It is essential for the market introduction and thus the commercial success to demonstrate such commercial operation for customers to invest in such plants.

Impact: The project will increase the competitiveness of the European mushroom industry currently under strong pressure from China, as well as the biogas industry, suffering from high operational costs.

The market: Biogas plants are rapidly being established to support the renewable energy transition with more than 15,000 plants currently in operation in Europe. The European mushroom industry uses about 3 m tons of substrate annually and grows with 10%. The market for the innovation is large, has a growing trend and strong drivers.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017

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Coordinator

ADVANCED SUBSTRATE TECHNOLOGIES AS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 646 813,55
Address
NIELS PEDERSENS ALLE 2
8830 TJELE
Denmark

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Danmark Midtjylland Vestjylland
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 3 600 945,00

Participants (1)

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